Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)
"Gycklarnas afton" (original title)

While traveling in caravan through the country of Sweden, one member of the decadent Alberti Circus tells the owner and ringmaster Albert Johansson a sad story about the clown Frost: seven ... See full summary »

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Stars:

Åke Grönberg, Harriet Andersson, Hasse Ekman

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Åke Grönberg	...	Albert Johansson
Harriet Andersson	...	Anne
Hasse Ekman	...	Frans
Anders Ek	...	Frost
Gudrun Brost	...	Alma
Annika Tretow	...	Agda
Erik Strandmark	...	Jens
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Mr. Sjuberg
Curt Löwgren	...	Blom
Kiki	...	The Dwarf

Storyline

While traveling in caravan through the country of Sweden, one member of the decadent Alberti Circus tells the owner and ringmaster Albert Johansson a sad story about the clown Frost: seven years ago, his wife Alma was surprised by him bathing naked in a lake with a regiment. When the circus arrives in the town where Albert's wife Agda and sons live, he decides to pay a visit with his young mistress Anne to a famous local troupe to borrow some capes, hats and vests for their tonight show. They are humiliated by the director Mr. Sjuberg, but he lends the pieces, and the lead actor Frans gives an unsuccessful pass on Anne. When Albert decides to visit Agda, the jealous Anne meets Frans, who seduces her with an apparently valuable necklace, and they have a love affair. Anne finds that the necklace is actually worthless and returns to the circus. Meanwhile, Agda refuses to accept Albert back and he sees Anne leaving the theater and going to the jewelry. During the exhibition, Albert and ...

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Plot Keywords:

circus | mistress | clown | sweden | bear | 

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Taglines:

DESPERATELY they fought the desires, the passions that dragged them down deeper and deeper into... "The Naked Night"

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

9 April 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sawdust and Tinsel

Filming Locations:

Arild, Skåne län, Sweden

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sandrews

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally marketed in the States as a sex film under the title "The Naked Night".

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Quotes

Anne: I can crack nuts with my teeth too.
Frans: Now I'm scared.

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Connections

Referenced in La Strada (1954)

User Reviews

Circus Movie of Note

Thanks to Criterion Collection for making a sparkling fresh print of this film available on DVD. Sven Nykvist's cinematography is seen as excellent as ever, especially those brooding cloudy skies. The story moves along nicely, and Bergman's women are clearly their own people (most of the time anyway). The tawdry lives of circus folk is a film cliché, but the characters do live and breathe in this movie rather more completely than we could have hoped. Special attention should be paid to the music of Swedish Modernist composer Karl-Birger Blomdahl. Those punching dissonant chords at the beginning of the film are not unlike much of his music for the outer-space opera he wrote, "Aniara." There is a recording of that work, but it's hard to come by. But you can try to find his Symphony No. 3, "Facetter", and you'll be delighted by how it grows on you. Nevertheless, Bergman pretty much left Blomdahl behind in his subsequent work, and you can see why: Much of it doesn't really fit, which is something you can say about a lot of famous composers who try their hand at film music.